On Tuesday, the Motion Picture Association of America filed legal papers in a Swedish court that alleged the three operators: Kolmisoppi, Fredrik Neij, and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg continue to help millions of people commit copyright infringement, even after being sentenced to jail and ordered to pay $3.6 million in damages. In their legal filing, the studios have asked authorities to stop the trio.

Also in the filing, the MPAA asserts that Reservella is just a front. Reservella is the company based in Seychelles, an island nation northeast of Madagascar, that The Pirate Bay founders say owns the site. The studios maintain Reservella is controlled by Neij, but Kolmisoppi denied this.

"Please ask (the MPAA) how they can know that since it's not true," Kolmisoppi said. "They're just saying it because they're upset that they have a faulty claim. They have essentially no idea on the ownership of the Bay."

Kolmisoppi has said in the past that the founders transferred ownership in 2006.

The question of The Pirate Bay's ownership has come up often in the past few weeks. The music industry's trade group has said that if a Pirate Bay sale is completed, it will try to seize any money that falls into the hands of the site's founders. And then there's Global Gaming Factory, a Swedish software firm, which announced plans last month to buy the service.

Hans Pandeya, Global Gaming's CEO, has said he wants to turn The Pirate Bay, a BitTorrent tracker most often used to locate unauthorized film copies, into a legal music operation.

But those plans appear to be on rocky ground. Two weeks ago, Pandeya hired Wayne Rosso, Grokster's former president, to help acquire content legally. On Tuesday, Rosso told CNET News that he had quit and that he had strong doubts about Pandeya's ability to raise enough money to acquire The Pirate Bay after talking to the CEO's investors.

Rosso said Pandeya may not have all the funding he needs. Pandeya denied there was any hold-up and said his company's investors and board will vote on whether to acquire The Pirate Bay sometime in August.

As for Global Gaming, Kolmisoppi said: "If (Pandeya) doesn't have the funding, it won't go through."

About the author

Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. Based in New York, Sandoval is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at @sandoCNET.
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